Bass Fishing News

This past week, B.A.S.S. held its 52nd Bassmaster Classic and my goodness it lived up to all of its expectations! This year the event was held at Lake Hartwell in South Carolina. This tournament is considered to be the super bowl of bass fishing and the anglers had three days to secure the top prize. The winner would win $300,000 which would change their life forever. Warming trends throughout the week we’re setting up for the fisherman and they were eager to get on the water for the first day. After the first day of competition, Bryan New pulled away with the lead by weighing 20 pounds even. However, the weights were so tight it was still anyone’s ball game. Going into day two, the anglers were excited to go after big fish so that they could make a jump up the leaderboard to set them up to win on the final day. During the second day, some anglers struggled but most of the anglers towards the top were able to make a few culls late in the day in order to keep them in contention for the final day. Kyle Welcher and Jason Christie were tied with 36 pounds and 7 ounces going into the last day so it was seriously anyone’s tournament to win. Throughout the final day, anglers were trading blows and catching fish all throughout the day but the weights were so tight it was almost impossible to know who won without them weighing in. It seemed as if the title would be between three different anglers: Kyle Welcher, Jason Christie, and Stetson Blaylock. Stetson was the first to weigh in and sat in the hot seat all the way until Welcher weighed in. Kyle weighed in 17 pounds and 4 ounces and took over the top spot but there was one angler left to weigh in. Kyle and Jason were tied to start the day so Jason needed 17 pounds and 5 ounces to win the Classic. As Jason brought his fish to the scales no one had any idea who would win but Jason ended up weighing 17 pounds and 9 ounces to seal up the win! Jason and his family took home a $300,000 check, a Classic trophy, and a life-changing experience. Jason Christe has led in two other Classics before but hasn’t been able to close the door on one so this win had to be even more special for him.